Technique for nesting articles

ABSTRACT

Disclosed herein is a method of nesting a pair of elongate articles, each having a complementary nesting surface, comprising the steps of: providing an article receiving surface; delivering a first elongate article to a first ready position on the article receiving surface; the first article having a first near end portion and a first far end portion; delivering a second elongate article to the article receiving surface; the second article having a second near end portion and a second far end portion; arranging the second article so that the second near end portion lies in a second ready position adjacent the first near end portion; engaging the near end portion of one of the articles independently of the far end portion thereof; transferring the engaged near end portion relative to the other of the near end portions to initiate nesting thereof; and manipulating at least one of the articles downstream of the first and second near end portions, to allow the nesting of the articles to continue beyond the first and second near end portions.

The subject matter of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/764,990, filed Dec.13, 1996 (now abandoned) is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to techniques for nesting articles.

2. Description of the Related Art

Nesting devices have been used successfully to reduce the amount ofmanual labour required to fabricate a variety of articles. Channelmembers are especially labour intensive since one must be nested intoanother before they can be stacked efficiently. A common type of channelmember is a wall stud which in recent years has seen widespread use inthe walls of modern buildings. The wall stud fabricating industry isheavily labour intensive and the risk of repetitive strain injury claimsis high, in part due to the need to invert, nest and stack the wallstuds. There remains a need for an automatic nesting device that willreduce the labour required for handling channel members. An example ofsuch nesting machines is U.S. Pat. No. 5,456,572 to OVERINGTON which isincorporated herein by reference. The device herein makes use of a pairof paddles to rotate each of a pair of channel members into a verticalposition and at the same time cause them to be nested together. Thoughsatisfactory for its intended purpose, this technique requires arelatively complicated structure and will not accommodate certaindimensional variations between channel members.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improvedtechnique for nesting articles.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Briefly stated, the invention involves a method of nesting a pair ofelongate articles, each having a complementary nesting surface,comprising the steps of.

providing an article receiving surface;

delivering a first elongate article to a first ready position on thearticle receiving surface; the first article having a first near endportion and a first far end portion;

delivering a second elongate article onto the article receiving surface;the second article having a second near end portion and a second far endportion;

arranging the second article so that the second near end portion lies ina second ready position adjacent the first near end portion;

engaging the near end portion of one of the articles independently ofthe far end portion thereof;

transferring the engaged near end portion relative to the other of thenear end portions to initiate nesting thereof; and

manipulating at least one of the articles downstream of the first andsecond near end portions, to allow the nesting of the articles tocontinue beyond the first and second near end portions.

In another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a devicefor nesting a first article and a second article, each having a nestingsurface and a number of formations extending outwardly therefrom, thefirst article having a first near end portion and a first far endportion and the second article having a second near end portion and asecond far end portion, comprising:

an article receiving surface;

locating means for locating the first article on the surface at a firstready position;

means for delivering the first and second articles to the articlereceiving surface with the second near end portion located at a secondready position adjacent the first near end portion;

engaging means for engaging the near end portion of one of the articlesindependently of the far end portion thereof;

transfer means operable with the engaging means for transferring theengaged near end portion relative to the other of the near end portions,thereby to initiate nesting of the engaged near end portion with theother near end portion; and

manipulating means for manipulating at least one of the articlesdownstream of the first and second near end portions, to allow nestingof the articles to continue beyond the first and second near endportions.

The present technique also provides for the nesting articles of the typehaving a nesting surface with a number of formations thereon, comprisingthe steps of.

locating a first article and a second article side by side, with thenesting surfaces of the first and second articles being oriented in acommon ready position, with the first article positioned between thelocating means and the second article,

transferring the first article about an axis of rotation from the readyposition toward an inverted position;

biasing the second article toward the first article, in order to nestthe formations of the second article in the ready position with theformations of the first article in the inverted position, with theformations in staggered relationship.

In still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided adevice for nesting articles, of the type having a nesting surface with anumber of formations thereon, the device comprising:

locating means for locating a first article and a second article side byside, with the nesting, surfaces of the first and second articles beingoriented in a common ready position, with the first article positionedbetween the locating means and the second article,

transfer means for transferring the first article about an axis ofrotation from the ready position toward an inverted position;

biasing means operable with the transfer means for biasing the secondarticle toward the first article, in order to nest the formations of thesecond article in the ready position with the formations of the firstarticle in the inverted position, with the formations in staggeredrelationship.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Several preferred embodiments of the present invention will now bedescribed, by way of example only, with reference to the appendeddrawings in which:

FIG. 16 is a schematic view of one portion of a nesting arrangementaccording to one aspect of the present invention;

FIG. 17 is a side view of the arrangement shown in FIG. A;

FIG. 18 and 19 are schematic views of aspects of yet other nestingarrangements according to one aspect of the present invention;

FIGS. 20, 21, 22 and 23 are schematic views of further nestingarrangements according, to several aspects of the present invention;

FIGS. 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 and 31 are schematic views of nestingsequences according to several aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a processing installation;

FIG. 1a is a fragmentary perspective view of an article;

FIG. 2 is an end view the installation shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3a is a fragmentary top plan view of a left hand segment of theinstallation of figure

FIG. 3b is a fragmentary top plan view of a right hand segment of theinstallation of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4a is a fragmentary side view of the left hand segment FIG. 3a;

FIG. 4b is a fragmentary side view of the right hand segment FIG. 3b;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of theinstallation of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a magnified end view of a portion of the installation as shownin FIG. 2;

FIGS. 7a and 7b are schematic plan views of another portion of theinstallation of FIG. 3b in different operational positions;

FIG. 8a is a plan view of the portion illustrated in FIG. 7a;

FIG. 8b is a side view taken on arrow 8b of FIG. 8a;

FIG. 8c is a perspective assembly of one segment of the portionillustrated in FIG. 8a;

FIG. 9a is a plan view according to FIG. 8a with the portion in adifferent operational position;

FIG. 9b is a side view taken on arrow 9b of FIG. 9a;

FIGS. 10a to 10e are schematic views of a nesting technique utilizingthe portion illustrated in FIGS. 8a and 9a;

FIG. 11 is a magnified end view of another portion of the installationas shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 12 is a magnified end view of still another portion of theinstallation as shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 13 is a magnified end view of still another portion of theinstallation as shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 14 is a fragmentary perspective view of a pair of channel membersin a nesting sequence; and

FIG. 15 is a schematic view of a control portion of the installation ofFIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention concerns the nesting of a pair of `nestable`articles, and is particularly concerned with the ability to nest thesearticles while having the ability to accommodate differences in theposition of one article relative to another and certain dimensionalvariations from one article to the next, as might occur for example atthe outlet of an article forming machine.

The term `nestable articles` is intended to refer to two or morearticles, each of which has a complementary nesting surface. Preferably,the articles are elongate, each with a near end portion and a far endportion, and may take the shape of such things as channel members, suchas those referred to in the construction trade as `wall studs`. Morepreferably, the channel members have a pair of side wall portionsextending outwardly from a central portion. The articles may or may notbe substantially identical.

As will be explained, the technique involves:

providing an article receiving surface;

delivering a first article to a first ready position on the articlereceiving surface; the first article having a first near end portion anda first far end portion;

delivering a second article onto the article receiving surface; thesecond article having a second near end portion and a second far endportion;

arranging the second article so that the second near end portion lies ina second ready position adjacent the first near end portion;

engaging the near end portion of one of the articles independently ofthe far end portion thereof;

transferring the one near end portion relative to the other of the nearend portions to initiate nesting thereof; and

manipulating at least one of the first and second articles downstream ofthe first and second near end portion, to allow the nesting of thearticles to continue beyond the first and second near end portions.

The present technique is based on the principle that articles withcomplementary nesting surfaces may be nested by moving one end portionof one article toward a nesting relationship with a corresponding endportion of the other article, and thereafter by manipulating one of thearticles in a manner to allow the nesting to occur along the remainderof the articles. This technique should provide substantial reductions incomplexity and increase the speed of nesting installations. Furthermore,this technique should allow for a greater variation in the parameters ofthe finished articles in comparison with prior nesting techniques.

FIGS. 16 through 31 are intended to illustrate certain aspects of thepresent technique. In some cases, the illustrations are exaggerated fordemonstrative purposes only. Referring to figures 16, 17, 18 and 19, thepresent technique may be applied to a pair of elongate articles as shownat 2, 4, each with a near end portion 2a, 4a and a far end portion 2b,4b. One of the articles, for example article 2 is placed in a firstready position and article 4 is then delivered adjacent to article 2with the near end portion 4a at a second position relative to the nearend portion 2a. One near end portion of one article, for example 2a isthen transferred to initiate nesting thereof with the near end portion4a as shown by the dashed lines in each of the figures. In FIG. 18,article 4 is misaligned with article 2 while in FIG. 19, articles 2 and4 are both warped. As will be described, the present technique may becapable of accommodating certain aspects of these variations.

Thus, one of the near end portions may be grasped, guided or otherwiseengaged and thereafter transferred relative to the other of the near endportions to initiate nesting.

Referring to FIGS. 20 and 21, another particular aspect of the presenttechnique is that at least one of the articles is manipulated downstreamof the first and second near end portions, in such a manner as to allowthe nesting of the articles to continue beyond first and second near endportions. This manipulating step may involve, for example, biasing oneof the articles toward the other. This may also occur by way of apressure force Fa exerted equally along at least a portion of the lengthof one or both of the articles as shown in FIG. E, and this has thebenefit of maintaining the nontransferred article in a position to nestwith the approaching transferred article, such as by the use of a numberof continuous members in the form of belt members to force, by friction,one article toward another. This biasing might alternatively occur by anumber of force delivery means for delivering a discrete force Fb at oneor more locations along the length of one or both of the articles, byway of a hydraulic ram or the like.

Preferably, the second far end portion is delivered, for example in arandom fashion, to within a predetermined distance `D` from the firstfar end portion as shown in FIG. E. This distance may depend on certainparameters, such as the width and height of the two channel members andthe manner in which they are to be transferred to their nested position.For example, if the articles have no significant torsional flexibility,then the distance D may be proportional to the degree of lateral playbetween the articles as shown by the dashed lines. If, for example, theengaged article has a significant torsional flexibility, then thedistance D may also be proportional to the degree of that flexibility.

Referring to FIG. 21, this manipulating step may involve the use of aprogressive biasing force Fc which is delivered to one article, startingnear the corresponding near end portion and progressing along the lengthof the article, such as for example by way of a press means includingone or more rollers 6 delivering a progressive biasing force Fc, cams,sliding blocks, or the like. The progressive biasing force may have theeffect of pressing the articles together, that is pressing the firstarticle into nesting engagement with the second article. Thismanipulating step thus allows the present technique to adapt to thevariations in the characteristics of the articles.

The manipulating step may involve guiding one of the articles, such asthe article not being transferred, into nesting engagement with thetransferred article. Alternatively, the nesting step may allow one orboth of the articles to flex under the biasing force to allow thenesting of the articles to continue beyond the near end portions thereofFor example, should one or more of the articles be warped or otherwisedeformed, the bias may cause one article to conform to a certain degreeto the other article, depending on the extent of the deformity and theirresiliency.

The biasing forces delivered in the manipulating step can also bevertical as shown in figures 22 and 23. The location, and indeed themagnitude, of the biasing force will depend on the on the degree ofnesting of the articles. For example, it may be appropriate to locatethe source for the progressive force Fc in the general area of the nearend portion or upstream of the nested-unnested transition region asshown at N. It may be appropriate for the discrete force Fb (or for thatmatter the pressure force Fa) on the other hand to be located adjacentto or downstream from the transition region N. This will depend on thecharacteristics of the articles and the ease with which each article canadjust during the nesting step. The article receiving surface might forexample, have a very love friction coefficient which may reduce themagnitude of the bias to manipulate the articles (and vice versa).

Referring to FIGS. 24, 25 and 26, the transferring step preferablyincludes rotating the engaged near end portion about an axis R. The axisR may be arranged to be laterally stationary as in FIGS. 24 and 25 orlaterally movable as shown in FIG. 28.

Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 27, the transferring step may involveshifting the engaged near end portion to initiate nesting withoutrotation, as might occur if the engaged near end portion has a nestingsurface which is reversed relative to that of the other near endportion. The engaged near end portion may also have a substantiallydifferent cross section to that of the other near end portion. In thiscase, the engaged near end portion is rectangular but is such that itsouter rectangular cross section is nonetheless complementary with thenesting surface of the other article.

Referring to FIGS. 28, 29 and 30, the transition region N may in factinclude a point of contact `P`between the articles, for example betweenone formation on the engaged near end portion with one adjacentformation on the other near end portion, as the nesting is initiated. Inthis case, the manipulating step includes the step of delivering a forceto one of the articles (and preferably the engaged article) to cause thepoint of contact to travel toward the near end portions.

Referring to FIG. 31, the present technique is particularly suited toarticles having a torsional resiliency as can commonly occur withchannel members with relatively small widths, such as for between about1.5 and 3 inches. In this case, it is not uncommon for such channelmembers to have the ability to withstand twists of as much as 180degrees without damage. In this case, the transferring step may involvethe step of twisting the engaged article, thereby to initiate nesting ofthe near end portions while the far end portions remain unnested. Thefar end portion 2b of the engaged article may be at a different angularorientation than that of the engaged near end portion 2a, immediatelyfollowing nesting of the latter. In this case, the engaged article will,by its resiliency, exert a force on the other nonengaged article at thepoint of contact P, which will contribute to the nesting of the articlesbeyond the near end portions.

The technique may be embodied in a nesting device, comprising an articlereceiving surface and locating means for locating the first article onthe surface at a first ready position. The locating device may include abarrier such as a movable barrier pin, or be some other form of stopformation to temporarily interrupt the travel of the first article.

The device includes a means for delivering the first and second articlesto the article receiving surface, with the first article engaging thelocating means at the first ready position and the second near endportion located at a second ready position adjacent the first near endportion and engaging means for engaging the near end portion of one ofthe articles independently of the far end portion of the one article.This engaging means may be mechanical such as by the use of gripping orguiding members or some other means to establish a mechanical connectionthat is a positive engagement which can be maintained during thetransferring step. The engaging means may also involve nonmehanicalforms of engagement such as magnets.

A transfer means, operable with the engaging means, is provided fortransferring the engaged near end portion relative to the other of thenear end portions, thereby to initiate nesting of the first near endportion with the second near end portion. Also provided is amanipulating means for manipulating at least one of the articlesdownstream of the first and second near end portions, to allow nestingof the articles to continue beyond the first and second near endportions, as above described.

The present technique also provides for nesting articles of the typehaving a nesting surface with a number of formations there on,comprising the steps of:

locating a first article and a second article side by side, with thenesting surfaces of the first, and second articles being oriented in acommon ready position, with the first article positioned between thelocating means and the second article,

transferring the first article about an axis of rotation from the readyposition toward an inverted position;

biasing the second article toward the first article, in order to nestthe formations of the second article in the ready position with theformations of the first article in the inverted position, with theformations in staggered relationship.

Thus, a particular feature of the present technique is that the nestingcan occur without having to engage the article at both the near endportion and the far end portion or at intervals along its length.Instead, only one end portion of the article need be engaged, therebyleaving the other end to be guided into its nesting arrangement with theneighboring far end portion, as a result of the near end beingtransferred to its nesting arrangement and the manipulating of at leastone of the articles downstream of the near end portion.

In other words, the direct action of transferring one article from itsunnested position to its nested position with the neighboring articlemay occur at one end portion only. What happens downstream of theengaged near end portion depends on several factors. For example, themanipulating step may have occurred prior to the transferring step, inwhich case the far end portions are a properly aligned, preferablywithin a predetermined distance from one another as discussed above,meaning that both articles are in a nestable position. In this case, ifthe article itself is relatively rigid, then the transferring of theengaged near end portion will result in a substantially simultaneoustransfer of all points downstream of the engaged near end portion towardthe nesting position.

Alternatively, if the article itself is relatively torsionallyresilient, then the transferring of the engaged near end portion may notresult in a substantially simultaneous transfer of remainder of themarticle including the far end portion. Rather, the engaged near endportion may be in a nested relationship with the neighboring near endportion while the far end portions are still not yet nested. In thiscase, the manipulating step enables one of the articles to be guided insuch a fashion as to allow the nesting to continue beyond the near endportion.

One example of the present technique is illustrated in FIG. 1, in theform of a processing installation 10 including a forming station 12, atransport station 14, a nesting station 16 and a bundling station 18.Located adjacent the transport station 14 and opposite the nestingstation 16 is an inspection station 20 for periodic quality assessment,as will be described. The forming station 12 is well known and formsnesting articles in the form of channel members 22. As shown in FIG. 1a,each channel member has a central wall portion 22a defining the nestingsurface with formations 22b, in the form of wall members, extendingtherefrom. The channel members are also well known in the constructiontrade by the term `wall studs`.

The forming station 12 has an exit area through which successive channelmembers emerge one-by-one in aligned fashion. The transport station 14receives the channel members and transports them to the nesting station16, wherein two channel members are nested together, to form a nestedpair, and are accumulated at the bundling station 18, wherein bundlesare formed of a predetermined number of nested pairs, for example five.The bundles are then dispatched to a downstream strapping station, notshown, where the bundles are strapped and otherwise prepared forshipping.

Referring to FIGS. 3a, 3b and FIG. 5, the transport station 14 has anentry conveyor belt 24 and a number of drive rollers 26 forming atransport bed 28, each of which is powered by a common roller driveshaft 30 engaged with the roller by way of a flexible ring member 32.The transport station 14 transports the channel members downstream fromthe exit area and a number of lateral kicking arms 34 are provided totransport the channel members laterally onto the nesting station 16. Thekicking arms 34 are each fixed to a corresponding vertical drive shaft36 having a drive pulley on its lower end. One of the drive shafts 36 iscoupled to the transmission of a kicking drive motor 40 and the otherdrive shafts 36 are joined together by timing belts with tensioners. Thekicking drive motor 40 is also provided with a clutch/brake unit 42 toallow the kicking drive motor 40 to be always operating while theclutch/brake unit 42 can be engaged to activate the kicking arms 34.

Each of the kicking arms 34 has a remote end portion in the form of anupright pin 44 which projects through the plane of the transport bed 28as defined by the upper tangents of the rollers 26. Selected ones of thekicking arms 34, in this case the third and fourth kicking arms 34, areprovided with a mechanism to adjust the elevation of the pin 44. Each ofthe third and fourth kicking arms 34 W are mounted on one of a sleeve 50which itself is mounted on the vertical shaft for rotation therewith. Anadjustment arm 52 is provided to adjust the height of the sleeve 50 andhas one end pivoted to the sleeve 50 and another end engaged with avertically oriented solenoid 54, the central portion of the armproviding a fulcrum against a frame portion.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 3a, 3b and 6, the nesting station 16 has a nestingbed 60 which forms an article receiving surface. The nesting bed 60 isdefined by a number of parallel drive members in the form of beltmembers 62, each of which is suspended between a pair of pulleys, afirst pulley 64 adjacent the transport station 14 and a second pulley 66remote therefrom. In this case, the pulleys are mounted on respectiveends of a frame member 68 and are positioned generally perpendicular tothe direction of travel of the transport station 14. Collectively, thefirst pulleys 64 are keyed to a common first drive shaft 70 and thesecond pulleys 66 are freely mounted on a second shaft 72.

Referring to FIG. 3b, the first drive shaft 70 and the roller driveshaft 30 are driven by a common drive unit 74, which includes a motorand an output transmission coupled therewith.

Centrally located on the nesting bed 60 is a locating means for locatinga first channel member at a first ready position. Preferably, thelocating means is in the form of a number of barrier pins 80 anchored bya brace 82 which is in turn fixed to an adjacent upright frame member 84and operated by solenoid 83, in such a manner to project into the planeof the nesting bed 60, in an operable position, thereby to form abarrier defines an entry region and an exit region on the nesting bed 60on either side of the barrier. The barrier pins 80 are movable by way ofa linear actuator between the operable position and an inoperableposition below the plane of the nesting bed 60 wherein the channelmembers are movable from the entry region to the exit region.

In this case, the belt members and the transport station togethercontribute as a delivery means for delivering the first and secondarticles to the article receiving surface, with the first articleengaging the locating means at the first ready position and the secondnear end portion located at a second ready position adjacent the firstnear end portion.

Referring to FIG. 1, the device has an engaging means for engaging thenear end portion of one of the articles independently of the far endportion thereof and a transfer means operable with the engaging meansfor transferring the one near end portion relative to the other of thenear end portions, preferably to an inverted position, thereby toinitiate nesting of the first near end portion with the second near endportion. The engaging means includes a coupler unit 90 having a firstlip 92 and a second lip 94, wherein a portion of the nesting articlefits between the first and second lips, wherein the first lip 92 isspaced from and fixed relative to the second lip 94. The first andsecond lips are further arranged to receive the central wall portiontherebetween in an engaged position,

The transfer means includes an elongate track member 98 with arectangular cross section end the coupler unit 90 is slidably mounted onthe track member 98 under the action of a linear actuator 100. Thecoupler unit 90 includes a block 102 having a pair of portions 104, 106which are bolted together, each with a surface 104a, 106a to form aninner surface to engage the outer surface of the track member 98. Theblock has a remote end 108 which is arranged to be positioned adjacentthe channel members and it can be seen that the lips extend beyond theremote end. The block further comprises a projection 110 on one sidethereof and one lip 92 extends outwardly from the projection.

A carriage 120 is also provided for adjusting the position of the trackmember 98 relative to the nesting bed 60. The carriage includes abearing assembly 122 mounting the rotator unit into a track member 124which is generally parallel to the axis of the belt members 62. Thecarriage may be automatically adjusted by a linear actuator 126 or byhand by way of a crank 128. This adjustment allows the position of thefirst and second lips to be adjusted so that they are generally in linewith a central longitudinal axis of the first channel member, to ensureproper rotation and subsequent nesting, as shown in FIGS. 7a and 7b.

The track member 98 defines a longitudinal axis of travel and the lipsare generally parallel to the axis of travel so that the lips can bedisplaced from an engaged position as shown in FIGS. 9a, 9b with thecentral portion located therebetween, and a disengaged position as shownin FIGS. 8a, 8b with the central portion spaced therefrom.

Referring once again to FIG. 8a, the position of the channel membersrelative to the belt member closest to the block 102 may be madeadjustable depending on the dimensions of the channel members beingnested. For example, increasing the distance Dc from the free edge ofthe channel members to the block 102 may reduce the forces being exertedon the channel members by the block 102 during nesting.

The actuating means includes rotation means, in the form of a rotatorunit 96, for rotating the track member 98 about the axis of rotation insuch a manner that the axis of rotation is parallel to and offset fromthe track member 98. The axis of rotation is aligned centrally relativeto the first channel member and between an adjacent pair of the nestingformations in the engaged position. The rotator unit 96 is in the formof an indexing motor to rotate the track member 98 from its homeposition about the axis of rotation to an inverted position.

A manipulating means is also provided for manipulating at least one ofthe first and second articles downstream of the first and second nearend portions, to allow nesting of the articles to continue beyond thefirst and second near end portions. In this case, the manipulating meansis in the form of a biasing arrangement which is operable with thecoupler unit 90 for biasing the second channel member toward the firstchannel member, in order to nest the formations of the second channelmember in the ready position with the formations of the first channelmember in the inverted position, with the formations in staggeredrelationship. In this case, both central wall portions of the first andsecond channel members are laying in a substantially horizontal positionagainst the surface of the nesting bed with their wall portionsextending upwardly therefrom.

The biasing arrangement is thus provided by the frictional engagement ofthe channel members and the belt members 62 moving toward the barrier.Transfer means is also provided in the form of a linear actuator 100 foractuating the coupler unit 90 between a disengaged position, wherein thecentral wall portion is separated from the lips to the engaged position.

Referring to FIG. 6, the device may also be provided with a manipulatingmeans which is further arranged to deliver a progressive force along thelength of the first and second articles. For example, the manipulatingmeans includes press means for progressively pressing the first articleinto nesting engagement with the second article. As shown in FIG. 6, thepress means may be provided in the form of a roller 101 which ispositioned in tracks 101a to travel along the length of the first andsecond articles. The roller may also be equipped with a return mechanismto lift the roller to an inoperative home position during the transferof the near end portions of the articles, as shown by position a in FIG.9b.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 3a, 3b and 11, a nested pair delivery assembly 140is located in the exit region of the nesting station 16 and deliversnested pairs from their horizontal orientation in the exit region to avertical orientation in the bundling station 18. The nested pairdelivery assembly 140 includes a yoke 142 which engages the nested pairand which is formed by a pair of elongate panels 144, 146, each toengage a central portion of a corresponding channel member in the nestedpair. An alignment stop member 148 is provided in the yoke 142 to seatthe approaching nested pair in their proper position. The elongatepanels 144, 146 are fixed in parallel spaced relationship with oneanother by way of a web portion 150. A pivot flange 152 extendsdownwardly from one of the elongate panels 144, 146 and is pivotallymounted for movement about a delivery axis 154. A linear actuator 156 iscoupled with the pivot flange in order to move the yoke 142 from a firsthorizontal position as shown in solid lines in FIG. 11 and aligned withthe nesting bed 60 to receive a nested pair and a second verticalposition as shown in phantom in FIG. 11 to deliver the nested pair tothe bundling station 18.

Together, the elongate panels 144, 146 form a first opening 158 for thepassage of the nested pair, in a horizontal orientation, into the yoke142 from the exit region of the nesting station 16 and a second opening160 for the passage of the nested pair, in a vertical orientation, outof the yoke 142 to a yoke delivery area 170 in the bundling station 18.

The bundling station 18 includes a number of frame members defining abundling bed 174 with a receiving area 176 adjacent to and downstreamfrom the yoke delivery area 170. Located on one side of the yokedelivery area 170 is a series of indexing pins 178 and on the other sideof the yoke delivery area 170 an indexing beam 180, the latter operableunder the action of a linear actuator 181 to transfer nested pairs intothe receiving area. Together, the indexing pins 178 and the indexingbeam 180 receive the vertically oriented nested pair from the yoke 142.The indexing pins 178 are each pivoted to a frame member by way of apivot plate 178a and have a lower end coupled to a linear actuator 182so that the pins may be moved from a vertical position to a horizontalposition. In the vertical position, the indexing pins 178 perform twofunctions, first, to form a barrier between the receiving area 176 andthe yoke delivery area 170, and second, to support the right hand sideof accumulated bundle of nested pairs in the receiving area 176. In thesecond horizontal position, the indexing pins 178 allow for the transferof a nested pair just received in the delivery area to the receivingarea 176 to join the accumulated bundle.

Referring to FIG. 12, a series of keeper pins 184 arms are provided in,and movable across, the receiving area 176 and are biased toward theaccumulating nested pairs to cooperate with the indexing pins 178 andapply sufficient inward pressure against the nested pairs to keep themin a unitary bundle.

Also provided in the bundling station 18 is an elevator assembly 200 toelevate the accumulated bundle of nested pairs from the receiving area176 of the bundling bed 174. The elevator assembly 200 includes asupport beam 202 which is movable, under the action of a linear actuator204, from a first lower elevation corresponding to the elevation of thereceiving area 176 of the bundling bed 174, as shown in FIG. 12, to asecond upper elevation, as shown in FIG. 13, for later dispatch to thedownstream strapping station. Pivoted to the support beam 202 are anumber of rollers 206 which are positioned to fit between adjacent framemembers making up the bundling bed 174. A pivot assembly 208 is providedon the support beam 202 to pivot the rollers 206 from an operableposition extending generally parallel to the frame members and into thereceiving area 176, as shown in FIG. 12, and an inoperable positionswung outwardly from the receiving area 176, as shown in dashed lines inFIG. 3b.

Located generally perpendicular to the frame members and upwardlyprojecting from the support beam 202 on left hand side of the receivingarea 176 are a number of fixed guide pins 212 which are positioned toengage the left most face of the accumulated bundle of nested pairs astheir number reaches a predetermined value, such for example five asmentioned above. A number of guide members 214 are provided on the righthand side of the receiving area 176 and are positioned to engage theright most face of the accumulated bundle of nested pairs as theirnumber reaches the predetermined value. The guide pins 212 and the guidebars cooperate to maintain the accumulated nested pairs in a unitarybundle during their elevation from the receiving area 176 to the secondupper elevation.

Referring to FIGS. 4a, 4b and 13, a dispatch unit 220 is provided at thesecond upper position to dispatch the accumulated bundle of nested pairsto the downstream strapping station, not shown. The dispatch unit 220includes a central track beam 222 suspended from a frame structure and adispatch truck rollably engaged with the track beam. A number ofaligning plates are positioned in upright fashion below the dispatchtruck 226, each by way of a pair of pivot bars 228. Each aligning plateis arranged to engage the end face of the accumulated pairs. A chaindrive unit 230 has a motor driving a chain which is coupled to the truckto for displacement along the track beam, thereby to displace the bundleof accumulated nested pairs, against the rollers 206 and toward thedownstream strapping station.

Referring to FIG. 15, also provided is a controller 250 for controllingthe functions of the installation. The controller 250 includes a controlcircuit 251, a number of sensors to sense the completion of certainsteps during the process, as well as a number of counters and switchesto actuate the linear actuators, which are in communication with oneanother by way of a common bus 251a. Referring as well to FIGS. 3a, 3b,an overhead optical conveyor sensor 252 is located near the end of theconveyor belt 24 to detect the leading end of an incoming channelmember. A proximity switch 254 is located at the end of the travel ofthe kicking arms 34 to end the kicking cycle. A safety feature may beprovided in the controller 250 to interrupt the forming station 12 iftoo many channel members are present on the transport station 14 withoutthe kicking arms 34 operating. In this case, a counter 255 incrementsevery time the forming station 12 implements a shearing operation anddecrements every time a kicking cycle is completed. The counter limitclay then be adjusted when the length of the channel members to beformed is changed.

The controller is further provided with a key entry unit 255 so that theoperator can enter system parameters into the controller 250 as will bedescribed.

The controller 250 is further provided with a mode selector 257 toprovide the clutch/brake unit 42 with several modes of operation,including:

a. a NORMAL mode wherein the kicking arms 34 transfer one channel memberat a time toward the nesting station 16;

b. an INSPECT mode wherein the kicking arms 34 transport a currentchannel member toward the nesting station 16 and transports a subsequentchannel member toward the inspection station 20;

c. a REJECT mode wherein the kicking arms 34 transport the incomingchannel members to the inspection station 20 until a mode selector 257is returned back to the NORMAL mode;

Four sensors 256, 257, preferably part-in-place sensors, including twopairs each arranged in parallel, and are mounted adjacent the barrierpins 80 to detect the first and second channel members.

A pair of sensors part-in-place sensors 258, wired in parallel, aremounted above the nesting bed 60 detect the passage of the nested pairinto the exit region. A part-in-place sensor 260 is also mounted in themouth of the yoke 142 to detect the presence of a nested pair againstthe stop member 148. A part-in-place sensor 262 is also mounted adjacentthe delivery area of the bundling station 18 to detect the presence ofthe nested pair in the delivery area.

A part-in-place sensor 264 is mounted on a frame member adjacent thebundling bed to detect the retraction of one of the indexing pins 178. Acounter 265 is also provided to count the number of times the indexingpin is retracted so as to trigger an elevation sequence when theaccumulated bundle number equals the predetermined number.

An elevator sensor 266 is provided to sense the presence of theaccumulated bundle in the second upper elevation, so as to trigger thedispatch of the accumulated bundle to the downstream strapping station.

In use, the common drive unit 74 and the kicking drive motor 40 are bothactuated by the controller 250 causing both the rollers 26 and the beltmembers 62 to be activated by their respective drive shafts, as well asthe kicking arms 34 to be in their ready position with the clutch/brakeunit 42 in its disengaged position. The conveyor and rollers 26 areoperated at a rate to provide the incoming channel members with a fasterspeed than the speed at which they exit the forming station 12, forexample 50 feet per minute faster.

The operator first enters into the controller 250, by way of the keyentry 255, the system parameters length of the channel members and thecontroller 250 determines which of the third or fourth kicking arms 34need to be actuated to their operational position. In this case, thecorresponding solenoid may be operated to displace the arm. Should thedisplacement be upward, the sleeve 50 is in turn displaced downwardly,thereby lowering the kicking arm which is fixed to its upper end andthus the elevation of the remote end. In this lower position, the remoteend is thus below the elevation of the plane. In this position, then,the kicking arm will pass beneath the channel members when they areactuated. This is advantageous because the first and second kicking arms324 can transport a relatively short channel member to the nestingstation 16 while the third and fourth kicking arms 34 in theirinoperative positions, will not interfere with the oncoming channelmembers during their kicking stroke.

For example, the first and second kicking arms 34 might be required forchannel members lip to eight feet in diameter, while the third andfourth kicking arms 34 might be necessary for channel members 12, 16 20feet in length respectively. The operator then enters into thecontroller 250 the width of the channel members and the controller 250determines the appropriate position of the coupler unit 90. For example,if the channel members are 2 inches in width, the coupler unit 90 may bealready in its proper position. However, if the channel members are 10inches in width, the bearing assembly may be displaced along the trackmember 98 until the coupler unit 90 is centrally positioned relative tothe channel member.

The forming station 12 is then instructed by the controller 250 to beginsending channel members one-by-one to the transport station 14. When afirst channel member is detected by the overhead optical conveyor sensor252, and the mode selector 257 is in NORMAL mode, the controller 250conveys a signal to the clutch/brake unit 42 to kick the channel memberlaterally in the direction of the nesting bed 60. When the INSPECT modeis selected, for example to inspect an incoming channel member, thekicking arms 34 transport the current channel member to the nestingstation 16 and the incoming channel member to the inspection station 20.This occurs because the kicking arms 34 are stopped after 180 degreesduring their current sequence, then operate for the remaining 180degrees of their circular path on the next sequence. The kickingsequence is reset to the NORMAL mode after transporting the one incomingchannel member only. In the REJECT mode, the channel members aretransported by the kicking arms 34 to the inspection station 20 untilthe selector is returned to the NORMAL mode. Again, the rejection of anincoming channel member only occurs after the current channel member hasbeen transported to the nesting station 16.

The channel members leave the transport station 14 in a diagonaldirection, that is with a longitudinal velocity in the direction of thelongitudinal path along the transport station and a lateral velocity inthe direction toward the nesting bed. Preferably, the channel membershave a lateral velocity which is greater than that of the belt members.As a result, the channel members engage the belt members 62 of thenesting station 16 travelling diagonally toward the barrier pins 80 andimmediately decelerate.

The speed of the channel members is such that the first channel memberabuts the barrier pins to reach its first ready position. Likewise, thesecond channel member reaches its second ready position when its secondnear end abuts the first near end. With the channel members in place,the coupler unit 90 moves from its disengaged position to its engagedposition, thereby to approach the first channel member and the lips toengage the central portion of the first channel member. Thereciprocating member rotates the track member 98 and thus the firstchannel from the ready position as shown in FIG. 10a to the invertedposition as shown in FIG. 10e.

As the first channel proceeds through its movement, the second channelmember's position relative to the barrier changes in response. Since thebelt members 62 continue to travel toward the barrier and the frictionbetween the lower surface of the second channel members and the belt thesecond channel member biases the latter against the first channelmember, and likewise the first channel member against the barrier.

As the first channel member begins to rotate as shown in FIG. 10b, itsright side wall causes a slight right hand shift of the second channelmember. However, the first channel member shifts to the left as itpasses through a position with the right hand side wall now lyingagainst the nesting bed 60 as shown in FIG. 10c. The second channelmember follows suit and has now shifted to the left toward the barrier.The upper lip of the now horizontal left side wall is at an elevationabove the corresponding left side wall of the second channel member. Asthe first channel member proceeds to the position shown in FIG. 10d, theleft side wall of the first channel member partially extends inside thearea between the side walls of the second channel member. As the firstchannel member reaches its inverted position, its left hand side wall isnow fully between the side walls of the second channel member, thusresulting in a staggered relationship between the now nested first andsecond channel members. Thus, the rotator unit 96 rotates the couplerunit 90 which in turn rotates the first channel member.

Meanwhile, the second channel member is manipulated downstream of itssecond near end portions, to allow the nesting of the articles tocontinue beyond the first and second near end portions. Thismanipulating step is, in this case, provided by the biasing force causedby the belt members against the second member which causes the secondchannel member to press against the first channel member. Given thelength of the channel members, there may be significant torsionalresiliency along their length. The nesting effect may then first be seenat the near end of the first and second channel members as they arenested together during the rotation sequence. The nesting effect maythen be seen by a very rapid nesting of the torsionally flexing sectionsof the channel members along their length, similar to the closing of azipper, as aided by the biasing force of the belt members 62 as shown inFIG. 14. Thus, the biasing force generated by the belt members cooperateto manipulate the second channel member so that it will be in a suitablereceptive position for the approaching first channel member.

As soon as the rotator unit 96 has completed its full travel, thecoupler unit 90 is retraced to is disengaged position and the rotatorunit 96 returns to its home position. It may be, however, that therotator unit need not rotate to the fully nested position as showing inFIG. 10e. Instead, the rotator unit may need only rotate to the positionshown in FIG. 10e where there force of the belts and the torsionalresiliency may be capable of continuing nesting along the remaininglength of the articles.

With the channel members now clear of the coupler unit 90, thecontroller conveys a signal to the solenoids 83 to lower the barrierpins 80 to allow the nested pair to travel to the exit region of thenesting bed 60 and thereby to approach the yoke 142. After thepart-in-place sensors mounted above the nesting bed 60 detect thepassage of the nested pair into the exit region and the controller 250conveys a signal to activate the barrier pins 80 to their operativeposition. The nested pair then approaches and abuts the stop member 148,where the part-in-place sensor detects their presence aid the controller250 then conveys a signal to the linear actuator 156 to activate theyoke 142 to its second vertical position to deliver the nested pair tothe delivery area. As soon as the delivered nested pair is detected inthe delivery area, the controller 250 conveys a signal to return theyoke 142 to its first horizontal position to receive an upcoming nestedpair.

At this point, the controller 250 conveys signals: to the linearactuator 182 to drop the starter pin, to the linear actuator advance theindexing beam 180 to shift the nested pair into the receiving area 176and into engagement with the keeper pins 184 opposite thereto, to raisethe indexing pins 178 and thereafter to retract the indexing beam 180.The nested pair is then held between the keeper pins 184 on the lefthand side and the indexing pins 178 on the right. This bundling sequenceis continued until the predetermined number of nested pairs in theaccumulated bundle is obtained. At that point, the width of theaccumulated bundles is such that the left hand side of the bundle is nowengaging the fixed guide pins 212 and the right hand side is alignedwith the guide bars. At this stage, the counter registers that thepredetermined number has been reached and the controller 250 conveys asignal to raise the elevator assembly 200 to the second upper elevation.

The elevator sensor senses the presence of a accumulated bundle in thesecond upper elevation, the controller 250 conveys a signal to activatethe dispatch truck which approaches the bundle.

One by one, the nested pairs are accumulated in the receiving area 176until a predetermined number, for example five, are accumulated. Thekeeper pins 184 are movable across the receiving area 176 in order tomaintain are transferred toward the far end of the receiving area 176 asthe width of the package of accumulated nested pairs widens withcontinuing addition of nested pairs.

As soon as the location sensors sense the presence of the five nestedpairs in the receiving area 176, linear actuator lifts the support beam202, and in turn the rollers and the accumulated five nested pairs, fromthe first lower elevation to the second upper elevation.

The successive aligning plates are pivoted in such a manner that thosewhich are not upstream of the remote end of the bundle will pivotupwardly as they abut with the approaching top surface of the bundle.The aligning plates are positioned so that the nearest upstream aligningplate, which does not abut the top surface of the bundle, is in linewith the rear end face of the bundle. The chain drive unit 230 thendisplaces the truck until the nearest upstream aligning plate engagesthe rear end face of the bundle and then continues to displaces thetruck, and thereby the accumulated pairs, against the rollers and in thedirection of the beam to the downstream strapping station.

With the bundle safely dispatched to the downstream strapping station,the pivot drive assembly collectively pivots the rollers from theoperable position to the inoperable position swung outwardly from thereceiving area 176. The support beam 202 is then lowered to the firstlower elevation and the pivot drive assembly collectively pivots therollers, this time back to their operable position generally parallelwith the frame members.

It will be recognized that the sensors may be one or more of a number oftypes of well known sensors, such as infrared, photosensors, mechanicalsensors and the like. Likewise, the linear actuators may be hydraulic,pneumatic, electric and the like.

What is claimed is:
 1. A device for nesting a first article and aseparate second article, each having a nesting surface and a number offormations extending outwardly therefrom, said first article having afirst near end portion and a first far end portion and said secondarticle having a second near end portion and a second far end portion,the device comprising:an article receiving surface; locating means forlocating said first article on said article receiving surface at a firstready position; delivery means for delivering said first and secondarticles to said article receiving surface with said second near endportion located at a second ready position adjacent said first near endportion, and said second far end portion to within a predetermineddistance from said first far end portion; engaging means for positivelyengaging the near end portion of one of said articles without positivelyengaging independently of the far end portion thereof; transfer meansoperable with said engaging means for transferring said engaged near endportion relative to the other of said near end portions, thereby toinitiate nesting of said engaged near end portion with said other nearend portion; and manipulating means for manipulating at least one ofsaid articles downstream of said first and second near end portions, toallow nesting of said articles to continue beyond said first and secondnear end portions.
 2. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein at leastone of said articles is longitudinally aligned along an axis, saidtransfer means including rotating means for rotating said engaged nearend portion about said axis.
 3. A device as defined in claim 2 whereineach of said end portions of said at least one article has a free edgewhich is laterally disposed relative to said axis.
 4. A device asdefined in claim 3 wherein said engaging means engages said first nearend portion at said free edge.
 5. A device as defined in claim 1 whereinsaid manipulating means includes a biasing arrangement for biasing saidsecond article toward said first article.
 6. A device as defined inclaim 5 wherein said biasing arrangement includes a number of continuousmembers, said members being arranged to frictionally engage said secondarticle.
 7. A device as defined in claim 6 wherein said second near endportion is arranged to abut said first near end portion in said secondready position.
 8. A device as defined in claim 6 wherein saidcontinuous members are belts.
 9. A device as defined in claim 1 whereinsaid manipulating means is further arranged to deliver a progressiveforce along the length of said first and second articles.
 10. A deviceas defined in claim 9 wherein manipulating means includes press meansfor progressively pressing said first article into nesting engagementwith said second article.
 11. A device as defined in claim 1 whereinsaid engaging means maintains positive engagement with the engaged nearend portion until the engaged near end portion is nested with said othernear end portion.
 12. A device for nesting a first article and a secondarticle, each having a nesting surface and a number of formationsextending outwardly therefrom, said first article having a first nearend portion and a first far end portion and said second article having asecond near end portion and a second far end portion, comprising:anarticle receiving surface; locating means for locating said firstarticle on said article receiving surface at a first ready position;delivery means for delivering said first and second articles to saidarticle receiving surface with said second near end portion located at asecond ready position adjacent said first near end portion; saiddelivery means being arranged to deliver said second far end portion towithin a predetermined distance from said first far end portion;engaging means for engaging the near end portion of one of said articlesindependently of the far end portion thereof; transfer means operablewith said engaging means for transferring said engaged near end portionrelative to the other of said near end portions, thereby to initiatenesting of said engaged near end portion with said other near endportion; said transfer means further including rotating means forrotating said engaged near end portion about an axis; and manipulatingmeans for manipulating at least one of said articles downstream of saidfirst and second near end portions, to allow nesting of said articles tocontinue beyond said first and second near end portions, saidmanipulating means further including a biasing arrangement for biasingsaid second article toward said first article, wherein said biasingarrangement includes a number of belt members, said belt members beingarranged to frictionally engage said second article.